Governor Rick Scott on Friday signed into law the PIP legislation known as House Bill 119 – replete with clashing effective dates and complexities that many say could lead to a flurry of litigation.

Members have asked what to do on July 1 when the PIP bill glitch takes effect. It is recommended that members continue to file PIP claims following the usual course of business. Members are requested to notify the FCA should an insurer deny a claim based upon the glitch.

Just as the Legislature finally delivered its PIP/No-Fault reform proposal to Gov. Scott’s desk last Friday, new problems and questions came to light, likely impacting his presumed approval of the measure. Scott has a constitutionally-mandated 15 days to make a decision whether to approve or veto House Bill 119, the Legislature’s last-minute attempt to reform PIP this year. The flawed bill continues to generate considerable controversy.

In the post-Session frenzy of the new PIP law (expected to become law
soon), many of our members have received solicitations from medical
doctors to provide chiropractic patients an Emergency Medical Condition
(“EMC”) determination in order to attempt to obtain the full $10,000 in
PIP benefits. BEWARE! These schemes violate federal and state fraud and
abuse laws. Additionally, it appears that some lawyers are sending
members bad information on the anticipated interpretation of the new PIP
law.

In response to member calls about the confusing effective dates in HB
119, FCA General Counsel Paul Lambert prepared a table listing each bill
section, the section line numbers, a description of the section's effect and
the effective date of each section. Different parts of the bill
take effect at different times. (In general, a bill becomes law when the
Governor signs a bill or allows it to become law without his signature, fifteen
days after the bill is presented to him. Generally, a bill becomes
effective upon becoming law. However, the Legislature may enact dates upon
which a bill takes effect after it has become law.)

The onerous PIP legislation that passed late last Friday
night was fabricated behind closed doors and was not available for
public view until 7:30 that evening. Soon after it was unveiled, it
was branded as a “compromise measure,” then rushed through the House
almost immediately. Then, after a furious flurry of lobbying, heavy
arm-twisting by the Governor and much heated debate in the Senate, it
missed defeat by that body by just one vote, passing at 10:30 that same
evening. Within 24 hours, on Saturday evening, the FCA provided its
members an analysis of the legislation.

Media outlets across the state are reporting raised suspicions about Gov. Rick’s Scott’s interest in the Legislature’s recent PIP/No-fault insurance reform debate after a new development. It’s now clear a $100,000 contribution from an affiliate of United Auto Insurance landed in one of the Governor’s political committee accounts just two days before the final vote, all at a time when Scott was traveling across the state calling for reforms -- and twisting arms in Tallahassee -- to gain approval for a wish-list package of changes heavily pushed by the insurance industry.

Tallahassee – Bowing to intense lobbying pressure from Governor Rick Scott flanked by CFO Jeff Atwater, state lawmakers gave their final approval to a package of PIP/No-fault auto insurance reforms shortly before their final adjournment, just before midnight last night. The last-minute deal struck between Scott, Atwater and leadership in the House and Senate was drafted earlier in the afternoon behind closed doors, later unveiled, and quickly rushed through both chambers with a heavy dose of arm twisting.

The Florida House is poised to continue its work on PIP reform,
reworking the Senate bill now in its possession to improve it for the
insurance industry and worsen it for chiropractic and consumers. The
issue is likely to be front and center at any moment, before the
Legislature's adjournment tonight.

A campaign is being mounted by the Governor and Florida Insurance Commissioner, encouraging the Florida House to amend the text of the original, horrific House bill (eliminating access to chiropractic) onto the PIP bill recently sent over the by the Senate (which has direct access to chiropractic) and send it back to the Senate.

Tallahassee – This morning the Florida Senate considered and passed its version of PIP/No-fault reform package (CS/SC/SB1860) by a vote of 39-1. That set the stage for a largely procedural move where the content of the Senate Bill was amended onto and replaced the language of the House bill. It was then sent to the House where it is now ready to be considered by the House -- if and when the leadership decides to consider it.